The present invention relates to an apparatus for feeding tie plate track fasteners to a rail spiker and the assembly of the tie plate track fastener feeder with the rail spiker and associated mechanisms on a rail spiking vehicle.
When laying new railroad rails and when repairing old railroad tracks as by replacing old ties, it is often necessary to secure tie plates to the cross ties. The insertion of tie plate spikes (or other tie plate track fasteners such as hairpin or lock spikes and coach screws) secures the plates to the ties and the plates in turn secure the rails in position.
Various spike feeding and holding arrangements have previously been used. Among these are arrangements disclosed or shown in the following U.S. Patents, hereby incorporated by reference, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention:
______________________________________ Inventor U.S. Pat. No. Issue Date ______________________________________ Urmson, Jr. et. al 4,928,600 May 29, 1990 Wickham et. al 4,554,624 November 19, 1985 ______________________________________
Urmson shows use of angled jaws for a spike holding mechanism, whereas Wickham shows a spiking apparatus combined with measuring and gauging systems. Wickham has spikes fed from a spike chute into a holder for insertion by a spike head, such as a ram guide or spike hammer which uses hydraulic power to insert a spike through preexisting holes in a tie plate and forcibly create corresponding holes in the tie below the tie plate preexisting holes.
Although those and various other spike feeding arrangements have been useful, they are often subject to one or more of various disadvantages.
Often a spike is released from a spike chute and passed to secure position (i.e., stationary with respect thereto) on an intermediate spike holder only to be handed off to assume a secure position on a final spike holder (such as a pair of jaws). The spike hammer then hammers the spike from its position on the final spike holder. The handoff or passing off of the spike twice (first handoff from chute to intermediate spike holder, second from intermediate spike holder to final spike holder) presents multiple opportunities for malfunction and often requires various complex manipulations to properly orient the spikes. Upon malfunctions, the spikes may not be supplied with proper orientation to the spike hammer.